<p> Future: Promise or Peril By Jim Harris</p><p> ere’s a simple fact: 80 per cent of the But with all this additional power we won’t used technology we will use in our day to day lives computers the way we do today. Consider: Hin just 10 years hasn’t even been invented yet! Think about it, my three pound computer notebook has  Voice recognition will be integrated into most more raw computing power than IBM’s largest computer applications. I use Dragon mainframe of only 10 years ago. The CPU (central NaturallySpeaking – a software program that allows processing unit) is doubling in power every 18 month me to dictate at 160 words per minute with more while staying at the same price point. This in turn than 99% accuracy by wearing a microphone creates revolution with new business models. headset. As a result, I predict that in 3-5 years time we’ll all have an Audio User Interface (AUI) not a  Long distance is free with Skype and other VoIP Graphical User Interface (GUI) – and like Jean Luc applications. Ten years ago long distance charges Picard, of Star Trek, we’ll talking to our computers. generated 70% of the profit of telcos.  Universal Real-time Translation (URT). Today I  What company produces more cameras than any can video conference from my notebook with other? Nokia! Now if you and I were executives for someone in Japan. Nothing new. But imagine in 5-7 a camera company 10 years ago do you think we’d years I can do it and they’ll see me and hear me have been looking at a mobile maker as one of our speaking Japanese (but I don’t speak Japanese). competitors? How will URT change business?  an 18-year-old has decimated the profitability of a $40 billion dollar industry. Shawn Fanning with the Implications for Businesses release of Napster changed forever the way music is The nature of competition will dramatically change. distributed. Today it’s Apple – ostensibly a computer company – has become the dominant  Imagine you were an executive for a telco. And that player in digital music downloads facilitating 4 10 years ago you used to rely on long distance to billion downloads. generate 70% of your corporate profit. Today Skype and VoIP makes long distance a free good. How  The web was born with the advent of Mosaic in much change does your organization have to go 1993 or Netscape in 1994 – and in 2008 there are 3 through to thrive? How quickly do you have to billion people worldwide surfing the web introduce new products and services to make up for  In 2008 there are 3.3 billion cell phone subscribers the revenue shift? How innovative is your worldwide – they are changing how business organization? How flexible and nimble? reaches customers  Airlines rely on high-margin business fliers to  The average size of a hard disk today – about 250 remain profitable. A staggering gigabytes – will be the amount of RAM on a “standard” PC in 5-7 years Preparing for the future Who is closest to the future - the 18 year old who surfs  A standard PC in 10 years will be 100 times more the web every night or the 65-year-old CEO who powerful than it is today doesn’t know how to turn on a computer? Who does all the strategic planning? Who is most disenfranchised  A standard PC will be able to collaboratively access from the strategic planning process? Is it any wonder the computational power equal to all the computer than most organizations only experience incremental power that exists today on earth change?  Within 10 years a device as large as a wrist watch will contain as much computational power as the © 2008 by Jim Harris. Jim Harris is the author of The Learning most powerful desktop PC today. (Today’s wrist Paradox, published in 80 countries worldwide, and nominated for the national business book award. He speaks at more than 50 watches contain more computational power than the conference and seminars a year worldwide on topics of most first lunar landing module!! Bit of a worry if you’re concern to executives: leadership, change, innovation and creating an old astronaut!!) learning organizations. You can email him at [email protected]. communicates so very clearly not only the key issues we face, but the solutions we need for What people say about survival. This book is priceless. The Learning Paradox: Lou Pritchett, retired Vice-President, Sales, Procter & Gamble "Jim’s session was one of the most highly rated “Every day the future keeps coming at us whether and I am certain that we will work with him in the we like it or not. The Learning Paradox provides future. What was particularly noteworthy was the individuals and organizations with the keys to accessibility and relevance of his material. Jim's unlock the right attitude and the mechanism for friendly, open style is critical in encouraging developing the necessary skills to go out and meet participants to take the material on board and shift the future with confidence.” their thinking." Kenneth Clarke, Chairman, Royal LePage Geoff Merchant, Centre for Management and Policy Studies, UK Cabinet Office “In the fast-paced global business environment, “The Learning Paradox is a rich, in depth the possibility of being blindsided by a competitor exploration of the major issues facing today’s or new market entrant is very real, even for organizations. But it’s more than that – it’s filled businesses that appear most secure. Jim Harris with stories and examples that evoke curiosity, offers real-life examples that will cause the reader laughter, and true learning. Long after I put the to stop, think and question whether he or she is book down, I found myself thinking about many of doing everything in his or her power to avoid the lessons Jim Harris describes so well.” being blindsided. A must-read for all senior executives.” Meg Wheatley, author Leadership & the New Science Clare Hart, President & CEO of Factiva, a Dow Jones & Reuters Company “In The Learning Paradox, Harris offers a strikingly insightful and coherent organizational learning strategy for businesses in this rapidly changing world.” Hunter & Amory Lovins, coauthors Natural Capitalism, Founders Rocky Mountain Institute</p><p>“The Learning Paradox deals with the challenges of incessant change and helps make sense of the confusion, emerging trends and technologies. With profound insight, the book presents practical, proven strategies, tools, tips and techniques to individuals and organizations to thrive in today’s fast changing business environment. I highly recommend you read the book – it had the same impact on me that Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock did in 1971.” Larry Wilson, Founder of Wilson Learning & Coauthor The One Minute Sales Person and Stop Selling Start Partnering</p><p>“If I were told that my people and I could read only one business book during the next year I would, in a heartbeat, choose Jim Harris’ The Learning Paradox. I choose this book because it </p>